The All-D.C. Native Team

WASHINGTON - According to baseball-reference.com, more than 100 players born in Washington, D.C. made it to the major leagues.

With that in mind – and who knows when we may see a major league game this year – here is one person’s look at the all-D.C. native team...

(Just a few caveats: The player had to spend at least three years in the majors and had to play at least in one season in 1947, the year Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, or later. And a story of Negro League stars born in D.C. would make a nice follow-up post.)

Vic Correll, Catcher

Correll was born in D.C. in 1946, was drafted out of Georgia Southern by Cleveland in 1967, and made his Major League debut five years later with Boston.

He spent most of his career with Atlanta and was with the Braves in 1974, the year Hank Aaron broke the career homer mark of Babe Ruth.

Correll ended his career with the Reds in 1980. He hit .229 with 29 homers in the majors.

Ryan Hanigan, Catcher

Hanigan was born in D.C. in 1980 and went to a high school near Boston.

He played at Rollins University in Florida then broke in with the Reds in 2007.

Hanigan ended his career with the Rockies in 2017; he had 30 homers in his career and hit .251.

Justin Bour, First Base

Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images

Born in 1988, the left-handed slugger went to Westfield High in Northern Virginia and was drafted out of George Mason University by the Cubs in the 25^th round in 2009.

He broke in with the Marlins in 2014 and hit at least 19 homers in a season four times.

Bour had great success late in his career against the Nationals and at Nationals Park, with several homers off Washington pitchers.

He last played in the majors in 2019 with the Angels. He hit .253 in his career with 92 homers – among the most of any D.C. native.

Bump Wills, Second Base

The son of Maury, the younger Wills was born in D.C. in 1952. He went to high school in Washington state, played in college at Arizona State and broke into the majors with Texas in 1977.

He ended his career with the White Sox in 1982. Wills had 196 steals in his career with 36 homers. He had a career-high 52 steals in 1978 with the Rangers.

Maury Wills, Shortstop

Perhaps the best player from D.C., he was born in 1932 and went to Cardozo High and broke in with the Dodgers in 1959.

Wills stole 104 bases with the Dodgers in 1962 and that record stood until Lou Brock of the Cardinals came along in 1974.

The elder Wills had 586 steals in his career, which ended with the Dodgers in 1972.

He managed Seattle in 1980 then was let go early the next season.

Don Money, Third Base

Money was born in D.C. in 1947 and went to La Plata High in southern Maryland.

The right-handed hitter broke in with the Phillies in 1968 but spent most of his career with the Brewers.

He was a three-time All-Star in Milwaukee and was part of powerful offensive teams with the Brew Crew.

Money helped the Brewers hold off the Orioles to win the American League East in 1982 as Milwaukee made it to the World Series that year against the Cardinals.

He ended his career in 1983 with the Brewers; he hit .261 and had 176 homers, the most of any player born in D.C.

Milt Thompson, Outfield

Thompson was born in 1959 and starred at Magruder High in Rockville, Maryland and at Howard University.

Drafted in the second round by the Braves in 1979, Thompson made his Major League debut in 1984 with Atlanta.

He had a career-best 47 steals with the Phillies in 1987.

Thompson ended his playing career with the Rockies in 1996. He had 214 steals in his career and was a coach for several years with the Phillies after his playing days.

Curtis Pride, Outfield

Born in 1968, Pride was a baseball and basketball standout at Einstein High in Montgomery County, Maryland and played both sports at Division I William & Mary in Virginia.

Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

He was drafted in the 10^th round by the Mets in 1986 and made his major league debut with Montreal in 1993.

Pride played in a career-high 95 games with Detroit in 1996 and was back with the Expos in 2001.

He ended his career with the Angels in 2006. Pride hit .250 with 20 homers in his career; for than a decade, he has been the baseball coach at Division III Gallaudet in northeast Washington and has been part of diversity programs with Major League Baseball.

Sonny Jackson, Outfield

Jackson was born in D.C. in 1944 and went to Blair High in Silver Spring.

He broke in with Houston in 1963, then played for the Braves from 1968 through the end of his career in 1974.

Jackson was teammates in Atlanta with Aaron and fellow D.C. native Correll.

The left-handed hitter had 126 steals in his career and batted .251.

Emmanuel Burriss, Utility

The infielder was born in D.C. in 1985 and went to Woodrow Wilson High in northwest D.C.

He played at Division I Kent in Ohio then was drafted in the first round by the Giants in 2006.

When he made his debut two years later with San Francisco, he became the first product of a D.C. public high school to make the majors since Willie Royster (Spingarn) of the Orioles in 1981. Royster was born in Clarksville, Virginia, was drafted by the Orioles out of high school, and died in New Jersey in 2015.

Burriss was with the Giants through 2012, then played in five games with the Nationals in 2015. He also played in the minors while with Washington.

His career ended with the Phillies in 2016. Burriss hit .237 with 41 steals in 325 games.

L.J. Hoes, Utility

Hoes was born in D.C. in 1990 and starred at St. John’s College High of the powerful Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.

He was drafted in the third round by the Orioles in 2008 and turned down a scholarship offer from North Carolina to sign with the Orioles.

Hoes, who grew up near Bowie, Maryland, made his Major League debut with the Orioles in 2012 in two games and played one game for the Birds the next year. He played infield and outfield as a pro player.

He played in a career-high 55 games in 2014 for Houston and ended his Major League career with the Astros the next year.

Hoes recently began working at a sports facility in Northern Virginia as the Director of Baseball at the St. James program.

He played for Double-A Bowie for parts of three years in a row, from 2010-12.

He was with Triple-A Norfolk for part of 2012, 2013, and 2016 and ended his career with Southern Maryland in the independent Atlantic League in 2017.

He turns 32 on March 5.

Clay Kirby, Starting Pitcher

Kirby was born in D.C. in 1948 and was a star at what was then Washington-Lee High in Arlington.

He was a third-round pick in 1966 out of high school by the Cardinals then broke in with the Padres three years later; he lost a league-high 19 games that season.

Kirby also pitched for the Reds and ended his career with Montreal in 1976. He had a record of 75-104 with a decent ERA of 3.84.

Kirby died in Arlington in 1991 at the age of 43; according to baseball-reference.com, he is buried in Falls Church, Virginia.

Johnny Klippstein, Starting Pitcher

Born in 1927, Klippstein also went to Blair High in Maryland. He made his debut in the majors in 1950 with the Cubs.

He won a personal-best 12 games for the Reds in 1956 and had a career-best 14 saves for Cleveland in 1960.

The next season he played for the hometown Washington Senators, going 2-2 with an ERA of 6.78 in 42 games, with one start.

He ended his career in 1967 with the Tigers; he went 101-118 with 65 saves in his career. He won a World Series ring with the Dodgers in 1959 and also pitched in the World Series with the Twins in 1965.

Klippstein died in Illinois in 2003.

Frank Funk, reliever

Funk was born in D.C. in 1935 and went to American University and Shepherd University in West Virginia, according to baseball-reference.com.

He pitched for Cleveland from 1960-62 then ended his career in 1963 with the Milwaukee Braves.

Funk won 20 games with 18 saves and posted an ERA of 3.01 in the majors.